The Stories Behind The Splits

We look back at the biggest splits and departures in rock.

1. Fleetwood Mac

Well known for their splits and line-up changes, 2018 saw Fleetwood Mac sack guitarist Lindsey Buckingham over disagreements about their upcoming tour. The band have since confirmed that Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Neil Finn of Crowded House will replace him.
Photo: PA

2. The Stone Roses

At The Stone Roses’ show at Glasgow’s Hampden Park on 24 June 2017, Ian Brown told the crowd: "Don't be sad it's over, be happy that it happened." Does that mean it’s all over for the Roses? Again? Time will tell. Photo: Jane Barlow/PA Archive/PA Images

3. The Maccabees

The Maccabees called it a day after 14 years and played their final shows in 2017. Luckily, they're leaving on friendly terms and they are happy to go out on a career high...

4. Tony McCarroll and Oasis

The original Oasis bust up was drummer Tony McCarroll. In 1995, the tub-thumper was "ousted" from the group, with Noel saying : "I like Tony as a geezer but he wouldn't have been able to drum the new songs". McCarroll took the Gallaghers to court claiming unpaid royalties, and was later awarded half a million for his trouble. He had to pay £200k costs, so it wasn't as generous as it may first seem. Photo: PA Images / All Action/ EMPICS Entertainment

5. Johnny Marr and The Smiths

Following the release of their fourth album, Strangeways Here We Come, in 1987, an exhausted Johnny Marr took a break from the band, only to be confronted by an NME story claiming they'd split. Erroneously convinced that Morrissey had planted the story, Marr confronted the tensions within the group and confirmed he'd jumped ship. The rest of the 'Miffs then declared they'd be auditioning other guitarists, although they ultimately threw in the towel. Photo: Andre Csillag/REX/Shutterstock

6. Peter Hook and New Order

Bassist Peter Hook was in the original line-up of Joy Division, alongside guitarist Bernard Sumner and drummer Steve Morris. When JD singer Ian Curtis committed suicide in 1980, the remaining three members carried on as New Order, employing Gillian Gilbert on keyboards. In 2007, Hook claimed New Order was over, but Sumner and Morris hit back, claiming it wasn't up to him to split the group. New Order reconvened without the bassist while Hook has toured the band's old material. Photo: Yui Mok/PA

7. Roger Waters and the rest of Pink Floyd

Floyd schism #1 came in 1968 when original frontman Syd Barrett left the band after his erratic behaviour made him a liability. But the big split came following the release of Floyd's The Final Cut in 1983, which was a Roger Waters solo album in all but name. A squabble over management and royalties led to Waters claiming that the others - ie, David Gilmour, Rick Wright and Nick Mason - could no longer use the Pink Floyd name, but the Gilmour-led Floyd went on to release two albums. Photo: PA

8. Tom DeLonge and Blink 182

Things weren't well in camp Blink-182 for a long time. It all came to a head when Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker issued a statement saying Tom DeLonge had quit the band "indefinitely", but the man himself claimed he "Never planned on quitting, [I] just find it hard as hell to commit." The remaining pair have enlisted Alkaline Trio's Matt Skiba to perform live. Photo: Anthony Harvey/PA Archive/PA Images

9. Noah and the Whale

They announced it on 1 April 2015, but it was no prank. The Twickenham-based band called it a day after four albums, saying: "We have had an incredible eight years together and are immensely grateful to everyone who has helped us along the way." They were probably best known for their hit Five Years Time.

10. John Lydon and the Sex Pistols

Smart alec manager Malcolm McLaren decided to launch the Pistols on the American public by sending them off on tour around the Southern states of the country. The resulting set of shows were horrible and singer Johnny Rotten's resentment of McLaren only intensified after he was told the band were due to travel to Rio to make a record with "Great Train Robber" Ronnie Biggs. He jumped ship and formed the more experimental Public Image Ltd. Punk was dead, man! Until 1996, when Lydon joined the surviving members for a reunion.

11. Smashing Pumpkins

Enjoying success with Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness album in 1996, Smashing Pumpkins hit New York midway through their world tour. On 11 July, keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin died of a heroin overdose and drummer Billy Chamberlin was arrested for drug possession and subsequently sacked. They carried on as a trio until bassist D'Arcy Wretzky left in 1999 and the band imploded the following year. The original line-up have reunited in 2018… but minus D’Arcy. Photo: DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images

12. East 17 1994

In the early 90s, Harvey (and his curiously placed hat) was the singer with Take That rivals East 17. That was until an interview in which he claimed to have taken "12 ecstasy tablets in one night”, right at the height of the ecstasy deaths scare. Various radio stations banned the group and questions were asked in the House Of Commons. Harvey was immediately sacked by the band and not long after, ran himself over. But that's another story... Photo: STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA Archive

13. Brian Jones and The Rolling Stones

Once Mick Jagger and Keith Richards began composing together, non-songwriting Brian Jones quickly found himself sidelined in the Stones. His diva behaviour wasn’t appreciated and when Keef fell for Brian's “lady" Anita Pallenberg, sides were drawn. Brian became estranged from the Stones and was officially sacked in June 1969 - with drugs charges hanging over him, any US tours were off. He was dead a month later, having drowned in circumstances that still haven't been fully explained. Photo: PA

14. Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath

In late 1977, original singer Ozzy Osbourne quit metal pioneers Sabbath. The band regrouped with another singer Dave Walker, only for Ozzy to decide that he wanted to come back two months later. The band then spent a year working on a new album, before guitarist Tony Iommi decided to sack the unreliable Osbourne. He was replaced by Ronnie James Dio in June 1979, but Ozzy went on to become a metal solo superstar and the original Sabbath line-up reunited in 1997. Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

15. Stuart Cable and Stereophonics

In 2003, hard drinking, hard living Stuart Cable found his position as drummer with the Welsh band untenable as his burgeoning TV career and party lifestyle meant the rest of the band felt he lacked commitment. He was replaced in the band by Javier Weyler. However, Cable died at the tragically young age of 40 in June 2010 after a night of partying that saw him choke on his own vomit. Photo: Andy Fordham/EMPICS Entertainment

16. Pete Best and The Beatles

Perhaps the most famous booting-out in rock history. Pete Best was drummer in Liverpool's most popular band, the girls loved him and the Fabs were about to go stellar. He played on the Beatles' audition at Abbey Road, but producer George Martin thought he wasn't good enough and employed a session musician instead. The rest of the band used this as an excuse to oust Best and bring in Ringo Starr, who had the same humour, the same musical style and, more importantly, had the same haircut. Best left the band in August 1962, two months before the release of their first single, Love Me Do. The rest is showbiz history, while Pete later became a baker. Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

17. Siouxsie and the missing Banshees

The best ship-jumping we can recall is that of Banshees drummer Kenny Morris and guitarist John McKay, who played on the post-punk classics The Scream and Join Hands. However midway through a UK tour, Morris and McKay had a row with Siouxsie and bassist Steve Severin during an in-store appearance in Aberdeen and jumped on the first train back to London. Panicking, the remaining pair quickly recruited Robert Smith of support band The Cure and Slits drummer Budgie. Photo: PA Archive

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